Of Broken Legs and Invisible Ink
by L.H. Knox
Summary: "Quinn hung up the phone, and glanced at her clock. 3.49 AM. She should be mad that she had been disturbed this late at night, but frankly, the thought that Quinn was the one that she wanted to speak to made the blond all kinds of giddy." Rachel Berry will be the death of me. Quinn uses her spy skills and Rachel's broken leg to proclaim her love. Oneshot filled with Faberry lovin'.


The shrill ringing of her mobile phone isn't what woke Quinn, but she was going to tell people it did. That's better than telling people the alternative, why she was really awake until god-knows-when. The ringing interrupted the mess of thoughts in her mind that were impossible to decipher, and she welcomed the distraction readily.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice alert and awake despite the late hour.

"_Quinn! It's me! Hah! I love hearing your voice!"_

Quinn frowned. She knew that voice all too well, and if she were being honest with herself, she'd associate it with the increased rate of her heartbeat. But it was too late at night for honesty.

"Rachel?"

"_Quiiinnnnnn. My dads said I wasn't allowed to call anyone, but I wanted to speak to you, and then they left the room and then I found my phone, and-" _A scuffle on the other end caused the blond to pull the phone away from her ear.

"_Hello? Quinn? Quinn Fabray?" _

This time it was a much deeper voice that spoke. The speaker sounded tired and fed-up, and Quinn thought she knew why.

"Yeah, this is Quinn. What's going on? Is she okay?" _She, _Quinn thought, _You can't even say her name without it hurting._

"She got locked out of the house and we weren't at home. She fell from her second story window."

"Oh my god, is everything okay?"

"Broken leg. Lots of pain killers seem to be doing the trick. I'm so sorry for the intrusion this late at night. She found her phone."

"It's fine. I'll make sure she gets a few visitors tomorrow to keep her company."

"Thank you Quinn, that's very kind."

Quinn hung up the phone, and glanced at her clock. 3.49 AM. She should be mad that she had been disturbed this late at night, but frankly, the thought that _Quinn _was the one that she wanted to speak to made the blond all kinds of giddy.

_Rachel Berry will be the death of me._

__o-o-o-o-o-o

Rachel answered, "come in!" to a short knock at the door. She immediately recognized the blond haired beauty, and smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"So I'm told that I have an apology to make?"

Quinn laughed, shaking her head.

"It's fine. I was up anyway. I couldn't sleep. But now tell me about this thing," Quinn said, gesturing to the large white cast on the very small brunette.

Rachel just shrugged.

"Nothing to say. I'm stupid, and this is proof of it."

_I don't think you're stupid, _Quinn thought, too shy to say it out loud.

"So why did you wait so long before coming?"

"I thought I'd wait 'til your other visitors left." Quinn didn't miss the look of sadness on Rachel's face.

"What?" she asked, "what is it?"

"Noonecametovisitme," Rachel mumbled.

"Come again?"

"No-one came to visit me," Rachel said, looking down ashamed. Quinn was livid.

"Those absolute dicks!" she said loudly, ignoring the look Rachel was giving her due to her use of profanity.

"Really, Quinn, it's okay, they were-"

"I swear to god, if you say they were 'busy', I will leave. They weren't busy. They were on their way here."

"Well Kurt-"

"Please, we all know that Kurt is either at a sale or hanging out of Blaine's ass."

"Quinn!"

"Okay, so a poor choice of words on my part, but tell me I'm wrong. And what about Finn? Surely your _boyfriend_ should visit you!"

"Well, uh, Finn and I… we broke up."

Quinn didn't even bother hiding the grin on her face. She just counted her lucky stars that Rachel wasn't looking at her.

"So… Am I allowed to ask why?"

"He wasn't good for me. And I didn't love him."

In the comfortable silence that followed, each girl's thoughts wandered to the other, though neither of them knew it.

The quiet was broken by Rachel's yawn.

"I should get out of your hair," Quinn said, gathering her things and standing to leave.

"No, please don't. My dads won't be here for another hour, and I do enjoy your company."

It was physically impossible for Quinn to say no to those gigantic brown eyes.

"How bout you get some sleep, and I'll design your cast for you?"

Rachel's eyes widened to comical proportions. She knew that Quinn letting people see her artwork was a _big deal_, no one was ever allowed to flick through Quinn's sketch book. Rachel nodded quickly, unable to turn down the offer.

Her eyelids became heavier, and the last thing she saw as consciousness left her was Quinn picking up a peculiar looking Sharpie.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Rachel struggled to open her eyes, each lid weighing a thousand tons. When she was awake enough, she glanced around the room, immediately noticing- with disappointment- that the blonde was gone.

"Hey, honey! How you feeling?" Leroy asked, putting down his magazine.

"Where's Quinn?"

"She left about twenty minutes ago. And she says, and I quote, 'you let anyone touch your cast before she comes up with a design and she will murder both you and the perpetrator.'" Rachel grinned widely, staring down at her still very white cast.

"That does sound like Quinn," she replied, before pulling out her phone and opening a message to Quinn.

_strawBERRY: So when can I expect a design to be completed?_

_QuinnF: Maybe when you change your username on here. It's embarrassing._

_QuinnF: (Read: As soon as possible.)_

_strawBERRY: You're the best._

_QuinnF: I know._

"So Rachel, can I sign your cast?" Kurt asked in the choir room. Club members were filingin, and Rachel panicked as Kurt pulled out his marker.

"Uh, the thing is…"

"You can't sign it," Quinn interjected, "I'm coming up with a kickass design for it, and I don't need you screwing it up."

Rachel shrugged her shoulders apologetically when Kurt shot her a scandalized look, before turning her attention to Mr. Schue. Internally, she was grateful for what Quinn had done. She didn't particularly want Kurt signing the cast (for someone who claimed to be her friend, he didn't visit her once during her week off school), and to be completely honest, she was excited for the design Quinn was coming up with.

_Maybe what excites me most is the fact she's so interested,_ Rachel mused, _she really seems to care._

_o-o-o-o-o-o_

"It's getting kind of ridiculous, Rachel." Kurt sighed as he sat down next to her at lunch, "no-one's allowed to touch your cast. You'll get it off before you know it and it'll be signature-less!"

"It's not ridiculous," Rachel tried to reason, "I just want it to be perfect."

"You just want to please Quinn," the boy replied with a roll of his eyes, whilst Rachel looked on, appalled.

"That is not the only reason!"

"Oh, please! You're completely head-over-heels in love with the girl. I see the little puppy-dog looks you give her when you think no-one's looking, and the way you smile whenever she says anything ever in glee, even if it's just asking to go to the restroom. I see everything. And it makes me wanna hurl." Kurt stood, tray in hand, the food on it barely touched. As he walked away, he leant down, placing his mouth right beside Rachel's ear to ensure no one could hear his next words.

"If it helps, I also see the way she looks at you. And you have nothing to worry about." And with that, Kurt bounced away, leaving Rachel staring at her soy chocolate milk in horror.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Rachel paced the best she could on crutches. She was waiting outside of the Cheerios locker room, waiting for Quinn to emerge so she could confront her about what Kurt had said. The door opened, and Rachel looked up expectantly, sighing in disappointment when it was just Santana.

"Get out of my way, Hobbit."

"I'm waiting for Quinn, I need to speak to her immediately in order-"

"You mistake me for someone who cares." As the Latina walked away, Rachel tugged on her bag, pulling her back.

"Does she like me?" Rachel asked in an urgent whisper, eliciting a groan and eye-roll from Santana.

"Yeah, for some weird reason completely beyond me, she enjoys your fun-sized company."

"No, no, no. Santana. Does. She. _Like. _Me."

"Oh. _Oh._" Santana cursed in Spanish, and Rachel was unsure whether to take that as a good or bad sign. "I refuse to be involved in this." She stalked off down the hallway, before stopping and whirling around.

"Ask her about the cast."

"The cast?"

"The cast." And with that, Santana walked away, ignoring Rachel's thank you's like some sort of fairy gaymother.

"Rachel?" Quinn questioned as she exited the locker room. Rachel threw her shoulders back defiantly.

"My cast."

"What about it?" Rachel faltered. She really didn't know what. Santana hadn't given her a better clue. The diva decided to roll with it all.

"Why haven't you come up with a design yet? It's been over a month. I get the cast off soon, and Santana said-"

"You spoke to Santana?"

"What's up with the cast?"

"I-I can't tell you. Not yet." Rachel stared at the blonde long and hard. She knew she had feelings for her, it was impossible not to. Quinn was intelligent and funny, compassionate and strong-willed. She had grace and numerous talents. Rachel was good at reading people, but deciphering Quinn was proving to be impossible.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me, Quinn? Anything at all?"

Quinn stared back at Rachel. Quinn was afraid to admit her feelings to herself, let alone the girl she was in like with, _who was standing right in front of her. _

Quinn looked down and shook her head, unable to reach Rachel's glare any longer, unable to react as the brunette hobbled away.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"No, Daddy, please don't. I'm begging you." Leroy stood in Rachel's bedroom, his excitement bordering manic.

"Rachel, sweetheart, this black light is like the one they use on CSI to find blood and semen-"

"Ew, Dad, so why do we need it in my room?"

"One, because it's fun to pretend like we're on CSI. And two, to see if the cleaning lady's doing a good job."

Conceding defeat, Rachel turned off her bedroom light as Leroy turned on the black light. Much to her father's disappointment, nothing in the room lit up. That is, until he stood right next to Rachel.

The brunette gasped, as did her father, tears sprouting to both their eyes as they realized what they were seeing.

"Did you…?"

"I had no idea."

As she gazed down at her cast, only one thought passed through Rachel's mind.

_Quinn has a lot of explaining to do._

_o-o-o-o-o-o_

Mr. Schue was trying to get his Spanish class's attention when Rachel Berry stormed into the room.

"Rachel, can I help you?" Rachel ignored him completely; she only had eyes for one person today.

"Invisible ink, Quinn? _Invisible fucking ink?" _Quinn jumped up, and grabbed Rachel's arm, forcing her from the room, ignoring Schue's protests and Santana fistpumping in the air.

"How did you find it?" she muttered once they were in the hallway.

"Daddy bought a black light. Long story. But what does the cast mean, Quinn?"

"I thought I made that pretty clear."

"Make it clearer."

"I. Well. I, ugh."

"Quinn."

"What do you want from me, Rachel? Some long declaration of my feelings screamed out in front of the entire school? That's not me and you know it."

"I want some sort of recognition, Quinn! You barely acknowledge me, like you're ashamed-"

"NO! Don't you dare play that game, Rachel Berry. You know very well how I feel about you."

"Do I, Quinn? Because I _thought _I did. But now you're standing there, and you used _invisible goddamn ink_ and my heart-" Rachel stopped herself from continuing.

"What?"

"Either you tell me the truth or I walk away until you're ready to be adult about all of this."

"Rachel-" Quinn stopped. The words refused to leave her mouth, her face burning red and her eyes begging Rachel for forgiveness. Rachel shook her head, and began to walk away. Quinn screwed up her eyes and took a deep breath, mustering all of the courage she had accumulated in her seventeen odd years, ready to use them for this one moment.

"I… like… you."

Rachel's heart stopped. In a second, her world came crashing down around her, and was completely rebuilt with Quinn at its center.

"You like me?" Quinn nodded shyly.

"And why couldn't you just tell me?"

"Because I was scared shitless. So instead, I used my invisible ink marker to draw a mural of my adoration for you on your cast."

"Yes. I'm aware. As is my father. I guess the good news is there's no suspicious stains on my bedroom walls."

"That's the only good news?"

Rachel smiled, a slow smile that took time to fully form. She knew that Quinn was the only one who made her smile like that, who made her heart skip a beat and feel like she was the only one in the room.

"The other good news is that I think I like you, too."

"You think?"

"Nope, I know."

Quinn grinned wildly, causing Rachel to giggle softly.

"So what now?" the diva questioned.

"Well now I go back to Spanish before Mr. Schue completely loses his shit. Then I'll pass a note to Santana telling her about what just happened. She'll smile knowingly, and make some obscene sexual innuendo."

"What about us?"

"I'll meet you at lunch, and we'll sit and hold hands and it'll all be awesome." Rachel giggled and Quinn put a soft hand on the other girl's cheek.

"I really like you, Rach."

"Back atcha, Fabray."

Quinn leant down slowly, her hands shaking and heart racing, and lightly brushed her lips against Rachel's.

"I have to get back to class," Quinn murmured. She walked to the Spanish room door, and entered, leaving Rachel breathless and alone in the hallway.

As Quinn apologized and took her seat, Rachel stood in the halls, neither of them able to form coherent thoughts. There was only one thing running through both of their minds:

_That girl will be the death of me._


End file.
